Holden Cruze: FAQs

Fun fact. Before the Holden Cruze small car that sold here from mid-2008, there was a Cruze mini-SUV Holden sourced from Suzuki that was on offer from 2002 to 2006.

For this exercise we’ll focus on the small car that came here initially as a sedan and later a hatch and wagon as well.

And the answer to the question is yes, the Cruze is still made in Brazil and Shanghai. That’s a lot shorter list than what it once was. It was even manufactured in Australia from 2011 to 2016 at Holden’s now defunct Elizabeth plant.

The Cruze was one of the last in a long list of Holden small cars that came from all over the world. Holden based early Toranas on the Vauxhall Viva. There was the Gemini (a GM world car), the front-wheel drive Camira (another GM world car), the Nissan Pulsar-based Astra, the Toyota Corolla-based Nova and then the return of the Astra, sourced from GM division Opel in Germany.

Following that came the Daewoo-sourced Viva, the Cruze (yet another GM world car) and then the return of the Astra one last time from Opel.

Now? Nothing.

Yes, the Holden Cruze sedan and hatch is fundamentally a good car. Well, a bit better than average anyway.

The first examples that came to Australia were built in Korea by GM Korea and the primary attributes identified were competitive equipment levels and pricing, as well as the impressive amount of interior space for what was nominally a small car.

But the Holden Cruze was badly let down under the bonnet where a lacklustre 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine resided in most models.

Holden started making the Cruze Series II in 2011, adding a petrol-turbo engine and introducing the hatch. Reviews were better this time round.

A 2014 update addressed criticisms of the Holden Cruze’s driving dynamics and introduced a bigger 1.6-litre petrol-turbo engine. Reviews were better again.

Throughout its local manufacture Holden Cruze was blighted by recalls. Just go to carsales.com.au and type ‘Cruze recall’ in the search box and you’ll see what we mean.

The Cruze received a questionable facelift in 2015 and then headed into the sunset in October 2016, a year before Holden shut its local manufacturing down entirely.

Not a lot. The Holden Cruze hasn’t been sold new since 2017 and the Holden brand will soon cease, so it’s a dead car from a dead brand. That doesn’t help resale value.

A search on carsales.com.au will quickly establish you’re dealing in a price range from $5000 to $15,000 depending on year and mileage.

As always it depends on how much you’ve got to spend and what your needs are. You won’t pay a lot for a Holden Cruze but you won’t get a lot back when you put your Cruze up for sale.

The Holden Cruze is spacious and quite well equipped, the latter depending on the year and the model grade.

It will also be looked after by a 10-year sales and service agreement General Motors has committed to as it exits the Australian market.